LAS VEGAS — Austin Rivers hasn’t played in an NBA basketball game since March 4, after suffering a broken hand injury that ended his season.

You wouldn’t have known it in his first game with the Pelicans at the Las Vegas Summer League opener on Friday, as Rivers finished with 24 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in helping his team to a win over the Summer version of the New York Knicks.

It was far from a great rookie campaign for Rivers, who was the 10th overall pick in last summer’s draft. But he was finally starting to put together some solid performances, just as the injury set him back. He picked up where he left off in this one, showing an ability to run the offense, find his teammates, and score from both inside and out.

Rivers was just excited to finally get back onto the court in a game situation.

“It feels good just to play a game,” he said. “I haven’t played in so long since I got hurt. It was kind of a blessing in disguise. I got to work on my left, got to watch a lot of film, and see my weaknesses and how I need to change speeds instead of going 100 miles per hour. And it kind of showed today.”

As good as Rivers looked in his first outing back, and even if he continues to play this well, he’ll be hard-pressed to see many minutes in what’s become a crowded backcourt in New Orleans. The team made a draft night trade to acquire All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday from the Sixers, and went out and signed Tyreke Evans to a four-year deal in free agency. And, Eric Gordon is still on the roster.

But none of that seems to bother Rivers, at least on the surface.

“It doesn’t intimidate me at all,” Rivers said of the new roster additions. “At the end of the day I’ve just got to go out there and work. If I’m there and there are a lot of guards there, then that means I’ve got to work even harder. I love the city of New Orleans, and I know we’re just trying to get better. There are still things that can happen with our team, so who knows? My whole focus is to keep working and show up to training camp ready to go.”

Rivers will continue to focus on developing his game and attempting to create a problem for his coaches when they’re looking to divide the minutes up this season; his Summer League performance was an indication that he could earn playing time at either of the guard positions.

“You saw today that I can do both,” Rivers said, when asked if he’s more comfortable playing the point or the two-guard position. “I really can do both. I’m a scorer but I can play the point and get people open. With Jrue there, he’s going to be the dominant point, so [this season] it’ll be a lot of [shooting guard]. But I can get extra minutes playing backup point for him, and that’s what my goal is right now.”

“I’m not really worried about who’s there,” Rivers said. “I’ve just got to show up to training camp ready to go — I expect to work and I expect to play.”

You are correct about Austin Rivers being one of the worst NBA rookies ever.

To date, Rivers is shooting 37.2% from the floor, with an even sadder 32.6% from deep. What’s more, he is only converting 54.6% of his shots from the free throw line, a number on par with a defensive-minded Center, not a Shooting Guard. To put this in perspective, there has never been a rookie in the history of the game to shoot worse while averaging over 20 minutes per game.

For the season, Austin Rivers is averaging a PER of 5.9. Yes, single-digits. This, too, is an all-time worst for a rookie dating back to 1946. He is also posting an abysmal offensive rating of 89 with a porous defensive rating of 114. Combined, these are also the worst recorded statistics for a contributing rookie.’

His year end PER was only 5.9.

nbascreed - Jul 13, 2013 at 11:44 AM

Yeah, I agree with Elway. In the NBA most small guards (which is what rivers is) show promise in Year 1. Harden struggled but you saw the development. Rivers always struck me as a guy with false bravado that covered up for what he knew was a glaring lack of vertical and horizontal athleticism.

I watched him before he got hurt and he couldn’t go by and since his shot is not a weapon he can’t use craftiness to gain a step (see Curry, Terrell Brandon, Mark Price, etc).

Austin will continue to slide further down the bench and end up coaching with his father someday.

With that attitude its hard not to root for this kid. Honestly, I felt he should have stayed at duke for his sophomore year just for more experience at a high level. That being said— He’ll ball out this year.

Like Austin think he will be successful just not in New Orleans , he won’t get the minutes he needs, which will make him progress as a player slower, then after next year NO will have to make a long term decision on a player it hasn’t had a solid look at and end up declining to offer a qualifying offer , then lose him and a early draft pick is lost for nothing.
Get him healthy , showcase him. Trade him…….

The guy is a bum. He came into my store in Orlando and pulled the “do you know who I am?” card. He was trying to get a mega discount on some sneakers. I told him I would charge him the same price as everybody else and he got pissy. What a d-bag.